Harvest #22 (Week B) should include potatoes, celery, beets, radishes, kohlrabi, turnips, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, sweet peppers, leeks, kale, arugula, radicchio, mustard greens, eggplant, hot peppers, okra, shishito peppers, and cured garlic. Some items will be a choice. U-pick should include flowers and herbs.

The tunnels are continuing to slowly fill up with fall greens like lettuce mix, radicchio, endive, arugula, kale, mustard, chard, and bok choy. We've planted in the high tunnel, hoop house, both caterpillars, and one of four beds in the hoop tunnel. The other three beds will be filled this week, then it's on to the greenhouse. After that, planting will be officially wrapped up for the season. Crops are more densely planted inside due to the limited real estate. Beds require manual preparation and planting. Tidy, colorful, weed free rows are satisfying. Weed, bug, and disease (somewhat) pressure is less this time of year. Mammal pressure exists, as well as mildew on lettuce and spinach, but if we're lucky the indoor fall and winter plantings are pretty easy to manage.

Before temperatures drop into the low and mid 20s at night we'll set up small hoops inside the tunnels where we can add another cover to keep plants extra protected. These greens are cold hardy down into the teens and through the autumn months shouldn't need extra protection that frequently. For now, they just need to be watered in right after planting and irrigated once a week, eventually every two weeks. We're hopeful there'll be a nice slow transition to cooler weather to get these crops properly acclimated to the cold season and not just a sudden deep freeze. Some years we receive a light frost in early October (36-38 degrees) and a decent hard frost in late October (28-30 degrees). It feels as if this fall is warmer than past seasons and hope we don't have a sudden plunge. If we do we'll just cover them with heavier fabric or double it up. These plants are remarkable and many overwinter just fine even when the doors are left open and covers kept off after the Late Fall season wraps up. We wish them luck, and we wish for you to join us for the Late Fall CSA! Membership is limited to about half the Main Season. Thank you!

Looks like a nice weather week!

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This week's workshift schedule:

Please bring gloves, water, a hat, and sturdy shoes! We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

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Our weather has been warm for October and the summer crops are still producing, but...my body wants soups and stews. We did grill veggies this week and I made a couple of soups/stews. What are you making with your harvest? Email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line so I can find your message.

Sweet peppers, eggplant, shishitos, onions, potatoes (that were par boiled) - grilled them and then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled smoked sea salt on them - it was delicious.

Leeks - made Melted Leeks. I have eaten these in restaurants, but never made them - they are so easy! I found the recipe I am adding this week after I made the leeks and served alongside a roasted chicken. I kept thinking that salmon would be great with them, and then found Slow Cooker Citrus Salmon with Melted Leeks - a 1 pot meal. If you want, you can just do the leeks this way and serve them with something else.

Arugula, tomatoes - made one of my favorite salads - simply toss arugula and chopped up tomatoes with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sea salt and pepper. Delicious with anything.

Pumpkin, sweet peppers, hot pepper, Swiss chard - made a Slow Cooker Chicken and Pumpkin Curry. Most Asian grocery stores have ready made red curry paste. The one I had wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked so I doctored it up by adding a hot pepper, and more paste than it called for. But, served this to friends and they loved it. I have added the recipe.

I find it so interesting that we tend to end the season much the same way we started: a large variety of greens plus salad turnips, radishes, kohlrabi and beets. Here is a bit of info for each in case you missed it in the spring.

Turnips - these beautiful little white orbs are one of my favorites - and the tops are also very edible. Slice them into salads, eat out of hand alone or dipped into hummus, or just salt them a little. Or cook them on the stove top in a little oil until browned and a bit tender - drizzle with soy sauce and/or sesame oil and eat with almost anything. If you are not going to use them within a couple of days, cut the greens off and store separately. The greens can be added to soups and stews, or at the end of sauteing the turnip, add greens to the pan to wilt them a bit.

Kohlrabi - again, these are great eaten raw, sliced into salads, or eaten as a snack simply salted or dipped into hummus. They store for a long time, but the longer they are in the fridge, the stronger the "cabbagey" taste gets, so then you may prefer them roasted, incorporated into a slaw, or try the Kohlrabi Slaw recipe on this site.

Beets - this time of year, we receive what I like to call storage beets, because the greens are removed and they are in the cooler for a bit. I like to roast them to bring their sweetness back. I think I will also make the Chocolate Beet Cake soon - guests won't know that this rick cake is full of healthy beets! I also like the Quick Roasted Beet Slices.

Enjoy the bountiful fall harvests!